His Marriage to Remember - By Kathie DeNosky Page 0,41

“Don’t you still want it?”

“I didn’t say I wanted it to begin with, only that I thought it would be nice. But that’s not the point.” She closed her eyes as if trying to hold on to her patience. When she opened them, she shook her head. “We both know that you were forced to take the time off. It’s not like you did it voluntarily. And the only reason you’re thinking about building it now is because you’re bored and want something to do. As soon as you’re cleared to go back out on the road with your livestock company, you’ll forget all about it.”

Stuffing his hands into the front pockets of his jeans, Sam shrugged. “It doesn’t matter whether this little vacation was forced on me or not, I’m taking the time to do it now.” He stepped forward to put his index finger beneath her chin and tilt her head up until their eyes met. “It’s something you’d like and it will get done, Bria. I’ve made sure you have everything you want and I’m not about to stop doing that now.”

She stared at him for several long moments before she turned and started walking back toward the house. “Whatever you say, Sam.”

As he fell into step beside her, he wisely let the matter drop. Bria had her mind made up and nothing he could say would change it. Besides, she would see soon enough that he meant what he said when the construction crew showed up and started building the gazebo.

But it bothered him that she doubted he would see the project through to the end. He had bent over backward to see that he got her everything she had ever mentioned she thought would be nice or he thought she might like to have. She had mentioned she didn’t have time to read as much as she would like, so he had hired Rosa to do the cooking and cleaning. When she said the road leading to the house was a little bumpy, he had a crew come in and put down an asphalt driveway the half mile from the main road up to the house. She saw a necklace and earrings in a magazine she thought was pretty and two days later she was wearing them. What more did she want from him?

He supposed he could point out all the things he had done for her, all the ways he had shown her how much she meant to him. But that just wasn’t his style. Hell, she knew all that and it hadn’t made a difference three months ago. Why would it make a difference now?

On their way to the house, he motioned toward the barn. “I think I’ll check in with Roy Lee about the new string of bucking horses. They should be ready by the time the doctor releases me for work.”

“You do that, Sam,” she said, staring straight ahead.

Watching her walk the rest of the way to the house, he shook his head. Bria was still in a snit and he didn’t have a clue why. Maybe if he gave her a little space, she would calm down and see that everything he did was for her. And in the meantime, he hoped to think of something that would restore her good mood and put his plan to show her that they belonged together back on track.

Seven

As Bria stood at the stove, stirring a pot of beef stock, she couldn’t help wondering why Sam had thought about building the gazebo now. It had been the better part of three years since she mentioned that spot down by the creek would be a nice place to have one.

Sighing, she walked into the pantry to get several potatoes, then, placing them in the sink, took some carrots from the crisper in the bottom of the refrigerator to rinse them. She wasn’t at all proud of herself for becoming angry with Sam when he took her down to the creek to show her where he was planning to build the gazebo. He had only been trying to do what he thought would make her happy. And she truly did appreciate the gesture. But she had never asked for anything of him but his time. Why couldn’t he see that just being with him was more important to her than anything else?

When she heard him walk across the back porch, she took a deep breath and turned to face the door. She owed him an